Those two major election campaigns

From The Daily Verdict at:
http://www.crikey.com.au/

Latest Newspoll: 30 October 2007

Newspoll released its latest polling this morning. Labor stands at 54% and the Coalition at 46% on a two-party preferred count.

According to Possum Pollytics fluctuations in the minor party vote estimates are a factor in the volatility of the two-party preferred figures over the last 10 months.

There is scant good news in this latest poll for either the Libs or Nats, as Labor continues to hold a fairly steady lead on both primary and TTP points.

Most political commentators are saying that the Howard team will still lose badly come November 24.

Over the next couple of weeks we can confidently expect that more money will be thrown at the electorate by John Howard as he tries to buy more votes to improve his chance of re-election.

Campaign Day 16

Every time I turn on the tellie there's Sue Page telling me that the Nationals team will 'get the balance right between the environment, development and tourism'.

Er, Sue - wouldn't you have to be in local government to have a genuine stab at this?

Or are you signalling that the Nationals intend a putsch against North Coast councils?

John Howard, the I-never-said-it-I-didn't-promise-it-wasn't-me Prime Minister

During the first three weeks of this election campaign John Howard has clearly demonstrated that he finds it impossible to own up to past mistakes and take responsibility for the results of his own actions.

 

This reached the far heights of absurdity when he repeatedly sought to rewrite the history of his interest rates promise at the 2004 election and when he attempted a clumsy duck 'n' weave over that Kyoto question.

 

Howard's non-core promises have become a bitter joke for many Australians. His former election policy platforms are littered with broken promises.

 

So perhaps it is time to recall his victory speeches from past years to decide if he lived up to the words and spirit of his expressed sentiments.

 

Here's a sample from the 9 October 2004 election victory speech:

"To be the prime minister of Australia is undoubtedly the greatest privilege that can come the way of any person. I will never forget, I will never loss contact with, I'll never misunderstand the nature of the honour and the privilege that's been given to me."

 

To judge for yourself trawl through other campaign transcripts at:

http://soapbox.unimelb.edu.au/index.html